Line of Duty thread 7: do bent coppers get their comeuppance? This is a spoiler free zone fella!

[MotherOfGodWeeFella]

Thread prepped and ready to go Boss.

Yy, it definitely looked as if Lisa was the UCO to start with. I remember Steve and Kate were surprised when it turned out to be male. Lisa certainly appeared to find the tough act hard at times, but yup, a bad one.

I've just re-watched last weeks episode and I'm not sure, but I think when you see Ryan's feet get out, someone else does as well on the other side. Just cant decide if it's another person or reflection.

@TheCaddieisaBaddie

I've just re-watched last weeks episode and I'm not sure, but I think when you see Ryan's feet get out, someone else does as well on the other side. Just cant decide if it's another person or reflection.

It's because he's on the side of the car that Kate and Jo are on; it's their feet. (I've re-watched to establish this.)

My all encompassing theory was that Tommy was still Alive and ordered the hit on Gail Vella because she was getting close to proving his son and the other 4 guys were guilty of killing Lawrence Christopher.

For that to work out Tommy had to be alive. UNLESS, his son was the new big boss?

Hunter could still be alive if they managed to get him out of the hospital and burnt some other poor bugger to replace him. Definitely feasible. What’s not feasible is that he survived that shot in the first place, but the show reckons he did so 🤷‍♀️

Just had a another huge thought.

Have we ever heard who was heading up AC-9, especially around S2? That person had to be H if the script is to be believed. Dot said H promoted him. AC-12 assumed this meant Hilton, but Hilton didn’t actually promote him, just suggested he sit the inspector exam. In S2, Ted says that Dot did well for himself after T20 was disbanded, joined AC-9 and got promoted. Everyone we know of from AC-9 is bent so makes sense.

Could it have been Carmichael?

She wasn’t in charge of AC3 back in season 3, it was another superintendent Kate went to see.

Hastings said Carmichael was a climber - maybe she moved from AC9 to AC3?

I suppose it's possible it was Carmichael in charge at AC9 when Dot was transferred there when T20 was disbanded. I don't think we've ever been told, have we?

Carmichael wasn't in it before series 5 though was she? Seems a bit strange to have someone unmasked who's such a latecomer? Also, she is probably a good ten years younger than all the other 'high ranking' POs so would have had to be a very fast-tracked person to have been in such a position of power back at the time of series 1?

I think Carmichael took over from Summers at AC3 (not sure when) - she didn't appear until S5 so meanwhile I suppose she could have moved to AC9.

We know that Akers, Desford and Dot were all in AC9 but not who was in charge? If Carmichael WAS in charge at the time of Tommy then maybe we're in for a big reveal!

Where was Wise promoted from?

If I recall, it was Hilton who asked Ted to take Dot onto his team. Whoever managed his former team was not mentioned I don't think.

Hilton also put Buckles in charge of Gates team in S1 and Huntleys team in S4

I’ve just done a rewatch and I don’t recall them ever mentioning who headed up AC9 which is odd when you think about it - given the frequency with which they had corrupt officers that we know of, it’s weird AC9 as a whole wasn’t investigated.

@GillBiggeloesHair no it was Dryden that told Ted to take Dot into AC-9, as it meant he was a “witness protection expert” since AC-9 ran wit pro.

However, it is not weird that both Akers and Dot were on AC-9 together and Dot is allowed to investigate the case, and never asked anything about Akers at all that I remember?

Ah yes I can see it in my mind eye now. Bloody Dryden....

I’ve just done a rewatch and I don’t recall them ever mentioning who headed up AC9 which is odd when you think about it - given the frequency with which they had corrupt officers that we know of, it’s weird AC9 as a whole wasn’t investigated

I’ve looked on the LOD fandom site and it says nothing about who has headed up AC9 - all it says is that Dot, Jayne Akers & Jamie worked there. Very little info about the unit at all, and the little that is known seemingly all relates to corrupt officers ... interesting ... 🤔

It’s very weird. Again can’t tell if poor writing decision or a clue (much like all the stuff I mentioned earlier with season 4).

If I were Hastings, or the PCC looking into institutional corruption, I’d be all over AC-9.

Do we remember how Desford got into AC12? Was he meant as a temporary replacement for Kate while she was undercover?

Who recommended him? Hilton, presumably?

Odd come to think of it that Dot was never asked about Akers.

Mother of God I'm going to have to watch the whole thing again.

@BillGigolo

Hmm. Unless it was Tommy in the car but NOT Tommy in the hospital, doing a swap like they did with Carly’s body.

Sad to say I think Ted must be H because Gail Vella sounds a lot like fella.

I think Vella / Fella is one of the best theories so far!

Just rewatched ep 5 with DH and DD, we all saw it on Sun.

We all agree that when Ryan got out of the car at the end (after Jo) someone else also got out.
You can see the feet under the car.

Might just be camera crew,? Or another OCG member.

@TedisnotH

Just rewatched ep 5 with DH and DD, we all saw it on Sun.

We all agree that when Ryan got out of the car at the end (after Jo) someone else also got out.
You can see the feet under the car.

Might just be camera crew,? Or another OCG member.

It's Kate and Jo. He's on the same side as them; it's their feet.

@LillianGish

Also not sure if this has already been mentioned, but DH (who also re-watched the entire series with me though he was in fact watching for the first time) thinks there's a huge clue in the fact that James Nesbitt is apparently in Spain. He remembers it being mentioned in series 5 when discussing the routing of the laptop through a VPN that it was believed to be routed through Spain.

I think it's pretty clear that Marcus Thirwell is the guy at the other end of the chats particularly considering this. Reading too much into it hoping for a really shocking twist means the ending can be a bit disappointing. I think this happened with Bodyguard actually, the final episode felt a bit of a letdown after all the build up and speculation but actually on rewatch it was brilliantly well done.

No, Jo is already out of the car.

This is why I can never finish rewatching - I spot something new and then have to go back looking for answers.

With regards to Spain, the tech person said that it appears to originate from Spain, but that the connection could be routed through several VPNs and be from anywhere. I would hope the guy isn’t stupid enough to just log on without a VPN, right...?

@TedisnotH

No, Jo is already out of the car.

They don't get out of the car. It's Jo and Kate (we checked their clothing and footwear beforehand).

I disagree. We'll find out who is correct, tomorrow (hopefully!)

Going back to the points about S2:

I had forgotten this but the ambushers actually go to the car with guns - shoot the two in the front, then shoot into the back and you see Hunter get shot and go limp. Then they set the car on fire.

Why would a professional hit team not 'just' shoot to kill and be in and out very quickly? (Ambush shots, and final head shots.)

Why the fire? Setting a car on fire, while leaving LD alive, is a very conspicuous act that uses up time and is actually a bit messy.